HMS Alceste (1806)

HMS ''Alceste'' was built at Rochefort in 1804 for the French Navy as ''Minerve'', an . In the spring of 1806, prior to her capture, she engaged , then under Lord Cochrane. During the duel she ran aground but Cochrane had to abort his attack when French reinforcements appeared.

The British captured her in an action on 25 September 1806, and the Royal Navy took ''Minerve'' into service as ''Alceste'' in March 1807; ''Alceste'' then continued to serve throughout the Napoleonic Wars. On 29 November 1811, ''Alceste'' led a British squadron that captured a French military convoy carrying more than 200 cannon to Trieste in the Balkans. After this loss, Napoleon changed the direction of his planned eastward expansion in 1812 from the Balkans to Russia. The British historian James Henderson has suggested that the two events were linked, and may have changed the course of the war.

In 1814, ''Alceste'' was converted to a troopship and used to transport British soldiers to North America during the War of 1812. Following the Treaty of Paris in 1815, ''Alceste'' carried Lord Amherst on his 1816 diplomatic mission to China. On the return journey, she struck a reef in the Java Sea; her wreck was subsequently plundered and burned by Malayan pirates.

Construction and armament

''Alceste'' was built to a design by Pierre Rolland for the French Navy as ''Minerve'', an . Her construction began at Rochefort in May 1804, she was launched in September 1805 and finished that November.Winfield, p. 178 Measuring along her gundeck with a beam of and a depth in the hold of ; she had a capacity of 1,097 tons burthen. When first fitted out, ''Minerve'' carried twenty-eight as her main battery and fourteen carronades on her quarter-deck; her forecastle had two long guns and two carronades.

French service

''Minerve'' was initially commanded by Capitaine Jaques Collet, entering service during the early days of the War of the Fourth Coalition between Britain and her allies, and Napoleonic France. In April 1806 she was part of a squadron—under Contre-amiral Zacharie Allemand and comprising five ships-of-the-line, five frigates, and four smaller vessels—anchored under the shore batteries of the Île-d'Aix awaiting the opportunity to put to sea.Henderson, p. 101 The British knew the location of Allemand's squadron; on 25 April Admiral Edward Thornbrough, sent the British frigate close to the Île-d'Aix to count the enemy vessels. Allemand ordered ''Minerve'' and three corvettes, , , and , to meet the British frigate, leading to a skirmish in which no ship incurred much damage. Three other British vessels subsequently approached—the frigate , the 16-gun sloop , and a cutter—and Capitaine Collet ended the engagement by sailing ''Minerve'' to a position under the shelter of the island's guns.Henderson, p. 102

''Pallas'' returned on 12 May with and a 16-gun ship-sloop, . Allemande despatched two large frigates and three corvettes; facing unfavourable winds, the British withdrew. Two days later, ''Pallas'' and ''Kingfisher'' came back and Allemande again ordered ''Minerve'', ''Lynx'', ''Sylphe'', and ''Palinure'' to chase Cochrane off.Woodman, p. 224 As a precaution, he also had two other large frigates, and , cleared for action and ready to go.James (Vol. IV), p. 232 Collett ordered his ships to set all sail in the hope of catching ''Pallas'' before she could escape, but Cochrane was in no hurry to leave and even attempted to draw the French on by backing his topsails and slowing down. Once in range, ''Pallas'' opened fire, bringing down the topsail yard of one of the smaller vessels and then retreating into nearby shoals with ''Minerve'' in pursuit. By 13:00 ''Minerve'' had come up on the leeward side of ''Pallas'', whereupon ''Pallas'' fired into her and closed with the intention of boarding. Just at that moment, ''Minerve'' hit a sandbank and ''Pallas'' crashed into her. The force of the collision, great enough to jolt ''Pallas''s guns from their positions, did not prevent her from unleashing a devastating broadside. Both ships were damaged but ''Pallas''s shallower draught prevented her grounding. Her crew were able to disengage and get back under way, having seen the two 40-gun French frigates, ''Armide'' and ''Infatigable'', drawing near. The crew of ''Kingfisher'' sailed in to take ''Pallas'' in tow; the latter had lost her fore topmast, jib-boom, spritsail, stunsail, and main topsail yards.Woodman, p. 225 ''Minerve'' was only lightly damaged; she was re-floated and taken to Rochefort for repair. The engagement cost the lives of seven seamen aboard ''Minerve'', with a further fourteen injured. There were a further one dead and five wounded aboard ''Pallas''.Henderson, p. 104

Capture

By September 1806 ''Minerve'' had joined a squadron—along with the large frigates ''Armide'', , ''Infatigable'', and , and the brig-corvettes ''Lynx'' and ''Sylphe''—under Eléon-Jean-Nicolas Soleil. The squadron left Rochefort on 24 September 1806, bound for the West Indies. At 01:00 on 25 September Soleil's squadron were spotted near the Chassiron lighthouse by a powerful British force under Samuel Hood, comprising five 74-gun ships (, , , , and ), the 98-gun , and the 16-gun brig . The French sought to avoid engagement, turning to the south-south-west with the British in general pursuit.James (Vol. IV), p. 262 After three hours the fastest British ship, ''Monarch'', was within range of ''Armide''. The next nearest British ship was ''Centaur'', over eight miles further back; seeing an opportunity, four of the French frigates fled. ''Infatigable'', set off north but was pursued and later caught by ''Mars''; ''Thémis'' and the two brigs headed south and eventually escaped.James (Vol. IV), p. 263

The remaining French frigates closed-up for mutual protection. At 10:00, ''Monarch'' engaged ''Minerve'' and ''Armide'', as the weather prevented ''Monarch'' from opening her lower gun ports, she was badly mauled. An hour later, ''Centaur'' caught up and began firing at ''Armide'' and ''Gloire'', leaving ''Monarch'' to continue her fight with ''Minerve''. ''Armide'' struck to ''Centaur'' at 11:45 and ''Minerve'' surrendered to ''Monarch'' shortly after. ''Gloire'' veered west in an attempt to throw her pursuers but ''Centaur'' and ''Mars'' chased her down and forced her to strike at 15:00.

British service

The captured ''Minerve'' arrived at Plymouth on 26 October 1806, and after languishing there for some months, was taken into service as HMS ''Alceste''. Commissioned in March 1807 under Captain Murray Maxwell and refitted between April and August, she was sent to the Mediterranean in December. Following the French invasion of Portugal in November 1807, a British expedition to capture the island of Madeira was proposed. Admiral Samuel Hood's squadron—comprising ships-of-the-line, ''Centaur'', , and , and the frigates ''Alceste'', ''Africaine'', , and —escorted troopships into Funchal Bay on 24 December. The island was peacefully occupied two days later.

In the action of 4 April 1808, ''Alceste'', with and , attacked a Spanish convoy off Rota. While at anchor about three miles to the north-west of the San Sebastián lighthouse, the British ships noticed the large convoy, escorted by 20 gun-boats and sailing close to the land so as to also benefit from the protection of a mobile artillery following on the shore. Coming under heavy fire, the three ships closed with the convoy at around 16:00. ''Grasshopper'', requiring less water than the frigates, was able to stand in close to the town and bombard the batteries there, while ''Alceste'' and ''Mercury'' concentrated their fire on the gun-boats, destroying two of the escorts and driving many of the merchants ashore. Seven were subsequently captured and sailed back out to sea by marines and sailors of the British ships.James (Vol. V), p. 38

In 1808, with Napoleon controlling much of Europe, a plan was conceived by Sir Robert Adair, ambassador to Venice, to extract Pope Pius VII from Rome. It was thought that the Pope in exile could encourage the Catholic countries of Spain and Italy to rise up against Napoleon. Admiral Collingwood, Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, dispatched ''Alceste'' and an 18-gun sloop, , to Palermo where they arrived on 12 August. The British diplomat there, William Drummond, selected four priests willing to undertake the mission. They boarded ''Alceste'' and set sail on 26 August.
On 31 August boats from ''Alceste'' put the party ashore at Ostia, near Rome, where they made contact with a representative of the Vatican who agreed to speak to the Pope but failed to return. When it was deemed necessary to travel to Rome to re-establish contact, the priests refused to go. Maxwell sent them back to Palermo in ''Acorn'', which returned a week later with another volunteer of Drummond's. Landed on the night of 19 September, the envoy was captured and shot as a spy the following day. Consequently, the entire plan was abandoned.

On 22 May 1810, ''Alceste'' encountered some French feluccas—lightly-armed merchant vessels with lateen rigs—that were forced to seek refuge under the guns of the bay of Agay. Under cover of darkness, two boats from ''Alceste'', one under Lieutenant Andrew Wilson, the other led by the ship's master, Henry Bell, attacked the shore batteries. This was only partially successful; Wilson was unable to achieve his objective, while Bell's section managed to spike the guns of the second battery but only after taking heavy fire.Woodman, p. 251 ''Alceste'' stood out to sea for three days, and on the night of 25 May, Maxwell sent two armed boats to lay in wait in a rocky cove. The following morning ''Alceste'' set sail. The French, assuming ''Alceste'' had gone, attempted to leave, but the two British boats lying in ambush attacked. Despite fierce resistance and fire from the guns on shore, four ships of the French convoy were captured and two driven on to the rocks. The remainder made it safely back to their anchorage.

Boats of ''Alceste'' and captured two vessels in the bay of Martino, Corsica on 21 June 1810. Protecting the entrance to the bay was a three-gun battery, which a landing party captured and put out of action. Several of the garrison were wounded or killed during the attack. British casualties amounted to one killed and two wounded.

In 1811, ''Alceste'' entered the Adriatic and on 4–5 May, she and ''Belle Poule'' participated in a raid at Parenza, (Istria). Having chased a brig into the harbour, but unable to follow due to the rocks and shallow water, the two frigates stood outside and opened fire on her and the battery protecting her. After an hour, the brig was forced to move nearer the shore, out of range.James (Vol. V), p. 364 At 23:00, the British landed 200 seamen and all their marines on an island nearby, and also landed two 9-pounders and two howitzers that they placed in one battery, and a field piece that they placed further away. From there, they were able to engage the French in Parenza in a five-hour mutual bombardment. The brig was eventually destroyed and the men and cannons returned to their ships. ''Belle Poule'' had one man killed and three wounded, and ''Alceste'' had two men killed during the action. All casualties occurred ashore.

At the action of 29 November 1811, ''Alceste'' led the British frigate squadron that outran and defeated a French military convoy carrying a cargo of cannon. The day before, ''Alceste'' had been stationed at the island of Lissa (now Vis), with the frigates ''Unité'' and , when word was received of a similar sized French squadron heading north.Henderson, p. 168 The British frigates could not immediately set sail because Maxwell feared an attack from a strong French force nearby. As a defence, he placed two batteries on an island in the harbour's entrance, manned by the ships' marines, and three previously captured gun-boats manned by around 30 seamen from ''Alceste'' and ''Active''. These precautions not only weakened but delayed Maxwell's squadron, which put to sea at 19:00, twelve hours later.James (Vol. V), p. 376

The British eventually caught up with the French ships at 10:00 the following morning, identifying them as the two large frigates and , and the smaller . ''Persanne'', fired the first shots at 12:30, off the coast of Pelagosa (Palagruža); an hour later ''Alceste'' and ''Pomone'' exchanged shots from their bow and stern guns respectively. ''Alceste'' began to overhaul ''Pomone'' at 13:40 and fired a broadside into her while simultaneously spreading more sail in the hope of catching ''Pauline'', a little further ahead. This plan was thwarted though when a shot from ''Pomone'' brought down ''Alceste''s main topmast, slowing her suddenly.James (Vol. V), p. 377 When ''Active'' arrived at 14:00 and also started firing into ''Pomone'', ''Pauline'' was obliged to come about to protect her now out-gunned colleague. Just after 15:00 the British sloop, ''Kingfisher'' appeared on the horizon and ''Pauline'', now in danger of capture herself, disengaged and sailed off. ''Pomone'' struck shortly after. ''Unité'' which had set off in pursuit of ''Persanne'', forced ''Persanne'' to surrender at 16:00 after a single exchange of broadsides.James (Vol. V), p. 379

The captured frigates contained more than 200 cannon, which were being transported to Trieste, a city in north-east Italy on the border of the Balkan States. It has been suggested by the British historian James Henderson that this action was a factor in Napoleon's decision to change the direction of his planned eastward expansion in 1812 from the Balkans to Russia.

In late 1812, ''Alceste'' was decommissioned and placed in ordinary at Deptford. Between February and July 1814 she was converted at Deptford into a troopship; in this role, she was recommissioned in May 1814 under Commander Faniel Lawrence. On 18 September 1814 she departed Plymouth as part of a squadron, with as flagship, that carried the advance guard of Major General Keane's army, which was moving to attack New Orleans. Following the British decision to attack New Orleans; ''Alceste'' left Pensacola on 8December 1814, in tandem with the 50 other vessels under Vice-Admiral Alexander Cochrane. The point chosen to land the troops was at the head of Lake Borgne which was subsequently discovered to be guarded by five American gunboats, a sloop and a schooner. On 14 December, Cochrane dispatched nearly 1,000 men in 42 barges from the various ships under his command, including ''Alceste''. After rowing for almost 36 hours, the British stopped just out of range to rest and eat breakfast before launching their attack. The Battle of Lake Borgne resulted in the capture of all the American vessels, at a cost of 94 British and 41 American dead and wounded.Clowes, p. 150 In 1847 the Admiralty issued a clasp (or bar) marked "14 Dec. Boat Service 1814" to survivors of the boat service who claimed the clasp to the Naval General Service Medal.

Diplomatic mission to China

After the Treaty of Paris, the British government sought stronger ties with China. William Amherst, the diplomat chosen to inform the emperor of the peace in Europe and to offer Britain's friendship, specifically requested Maxwell and ''Alceste'' to accompany him.Henderson, p. 168 Maxwell, without a ship since was wrecked three years before, commissioned ''Alceste'' at the beginning of 1816.Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green and Longman, p. 229 The journey out was uneventful; ''Alceste'' left Spithead for China on 9February with Amherst aboard, and after stopping at Madeira, Rio de Janeiro, the Cape of Good Hope, Anyer, and Batavia, sailed through the Bangka Strait into the South China Sea. After calling to pay respects at Canton, ''Alceste'' transited the Straits of Formosa and hove-to in the Bohai Sea on 28 July. There she met the 10-gun brig-sloop, ''Lyra'', despatched earlier to herald the arrival of Britain's ambassador.

Exploration of Korea and Ryukyu Islands

Having arranged to travel back overland from Peking to rendezvous with ''Alceste'' at Canton, Amherst was ferried to the mouth of the Hai River on 9August. As the mission and return journey would take several weeks, Maxwell had an opportunity to explore the area. ''Alceste'' headed north, while ''Lyra'', under the command of Lieutenant Basil Hall, was sent south. , an East Indiaman chartered to carry gifts for the Emperor of China, was to explore the centre channel. ''Alceste'' first undertook a survey of the Gulf of Liaodong, then virtually unknown to Europeans, and after spending some time exploring the Liaodong Peninsula, proceeded southward to Jiaozhou Bay on the coast of Shandong, where she encountered ''General Hewitt'', and was later joined by Hall in ''Lyra''.Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green and Longman, p. 230 ''Alceste'' and ''Lyra'' left the bay on 29 August for the west coast of Korea, an area that had not been surveyed since the Jesuit missionaries visited in the 16th and 17th centuries. Maxwell found the Korean coast to be some 130 miles further east than expected, and in the process of exploration also discovered the archipelago that forms the south-western tip of the Korean peninsula.Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green and Longman, p. 231 ''Alceste'' was then turned towards the Loo Choo Islands, now known as the Ryukyu archipelago, dropping anchor in the Napakiang roads on the south-west side of Okinawa on 16 September 1816. After a six-week stay, ''Alceste'' returned to China via the southern end of the island of Taiwan, arriving at the mouth of the Pearl River on 2November.

Return to Whampoa

''Alceste'' required some repairs after a long journey in inclement weather so Maxwell petitioned the viceroy of Canton for permission to travel up the Tigris to a secure anchorage, unaware that Amherst's mission had been unsuccessful.Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green and Longman, p. 232 The emperor's attitude towards the British envoy had been off-hand; he showed little interest in Europe or its affairs, and refused a gift from King George as he considered it insufficient.Henderson, p. 169 Having received an insulting message in response to his request, Maxwell decided to enter the river regardless but was soon hailed by a local mandarin who threatened to have the batteries guarding the entrance sink ''Alceste'' if she went any further. Still in need of repairs and requiring navigation to Whampoa to collect Amherst, Maxwell told the mandarin that he would proceed in any event. ''Alceste'' quickly dealt with the shore defences and 17 war-junks sent to stop her, and continued up the river to Whampoa. There she anchored and received fresh supplies while awaiting the arrival of Amherst and his suite. The incident would later be publicly described as, "''A friendly interchange of salutes''". Having completed as much of his mission as possible, Amherst boarded ''Alceste'' which left Whampoa on 21 January 1817.

Fate

With the many uncharted shoals and reefs, and frequent storms, the South China Seas remain some of the most dangerous waters in the world.Henderson, p. 170 Despite the continual use of a sounding lead, on 18 February 1817, ''Alceste'' grounded on one of the many hidden reefs in the Java Sea. Maxwell ordered the anchor dropped to prevent the ship from slipping into deeper water, an undesirable situation if the hull had been breached, which turned out to be the case. The pumps were unable to cope with the influx of water and the ship's carpenter, Cheffy, reported that ''Alceste'' was beyond repair.

Maxwell ordered his first lieutenant, Henry Parkyns Hoppner, to take Lord Amherst and his party in two of the boats to an island, known today as Pulo Leat, three miles away. The island's thick vegetation prevented an assessment of whether it was inhabited, and forced the boat crews to row a further three miles along the shore before finding a suitable landing spot between the mangroves. The rest of the ship's company were evacuated in the remaining boats and a large raft.Henderson, p. 171 Because of the lack of provisions, in particular drinking water, it was decided that Hoppner would continue with Amherst and his embassy to Java, roughly 200 miles to the south. Once there, a rescue could be initiated.

Hoppner's return journey to Java could not be accomplished in less than nine days, so further supplies would be required for the 200 remaining survivors. An unarmed expedition made its way back to ''Alceste'' to see what could be salvaged, but was forced back by the arrival of Malay Dyak pirates who plundered the wreck.Henderson, p. 172 Maxwell ordered the construction of a stockade and the improvisation of additional weapons to counter the threat of an attack.Henderson, p. 173 The digging of a well solved the problem of water. On 22 February, an armed party set out to reclaim the ship but the pirates set fire to ''Alceste'' and made off. The fire lasted throughout the night and destroyed the wreck; the following morning Maxwell sent out a boat that managed to retrieve some barrels of flour, cases of wine, and a cask of ale.Henderson, p. 174 The pirates returned at dawn on 26 February, entering the cove aboard two proas and two canoes. Second lieutenant Hay led a sortie that boarded one of the proas, killing four pirates and capturing two more. The proa could not be brought to shore and was scuttled. More pirates arrived over the next two days. They made no attempt to land, but behaved aggressively by firing their swivel guns towards the shore. By 1March there were fourteen pirate proas in the cove, with more arriving on the following night.Henderson, p. 175

Provisions were now running low, and with the rescue mission overdue, Maxwell began formulating a plan to capture sufficient proas to escape from the island.Henderson, p. 177 While the plan was being proposed a sail was spotted on the horizon, heading toward the island. The appearance of this vessel, coupled with a sudden attack spearheaded by ''Alceste''s marines, caused the pirates to flee. The rescue ship was , a 16-gun brig belonging to the British East India Company's navy, the Bombay Marine, despatched by Lord Amherst on the day of his arrival in Batavia.

''Ternate'' returned to Batavia with the castaways, where Amherst chartered the ship for the journey to England. During a stop at St Helena, Maxwell met Napoleon, who remembered the action on 29 November 1811 when ''Alceste'' had captured ''La Pomone'', and remarked, "...your government must not blame you for the loss of ''Alceste'', for you have taken one of my frigates." The requisite court martial exonerated Maxwell, his officers, and his crew of the loss of ''Alceste''. Maxwell received much praise for his actions, and £1500 from the East India Company. He was knighted in 1818.Hepper, p. 156

Notes

Citations

References

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* MacLeod, John (1818)
Voyage of His Majesty's ship Alceste, along the coast of Corea
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